A Shiny Pokémon (Japanese: 色違いdifferently colored or 光るshining), also recognized as alternate coloration or rare coloration, is a specific Pokémon with different coloration to what is usual for its species. It is one of the many differences that a Pokémon can have within its species.

The term "Shiny Pokémon" was created by fans to refer to the sparkling sound effect and animation made at the start of an encounter with one in the games. Eventually, this term fell into official usage in Generation IV, used on promotional material promoting Shiny event Pokémon. The term Shiny Pokémon was first used in-game in Pokémon Black and White.

Shiny Pokémon in the games may differ in color from their normal counterparts either very little or very much. Some Pokémon, such as Glaceon or Pichu, have a Shiny form only a few shades darker or lighter in color. However, many Pokémon have a spectacular difference between their normal and Shiny variations; even extremely common Pokémon like Caterpie show a dramatic difference. An evolutionary line is not necessarily guaranteed to have similar Shiny colorations even if their standard colorations are the same; both Ponyta and Rapidash have orange flames, but a Shiny Ponyta has blue flames while a Shiny Rapidash has gray flames (this is switched in Generation II). Sometimes, two Pokémon in an evolutionary line with different standard colorations will have the same Shiny coloration, as in the case of Skitty and Delcatty.

Generation II

A Shiny Gyarados in the anime

In Generation II, Shininess is determined by the IVs of a Pokémon. If a Pokémon's Speed, Defense, and Special IVs are 10, and its Attack IV is 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14 or 15, it will be Shiny. This determination allowed for compatibility with Generation I, as if a Shiny Pokémon is traded back, then traded forward, it would retain its Shininess. Despite the bonus of backward compatibility allowing for a Shiny Pokémon to learn Generation I TMs, provided it was a Generation I Pokémon, Shiny Pokémon are only slightly above average in terms of IVs.

Due to the HP IV being determined by the other four IVs, a Shiny Pokémon's HP IV can only be 0 or 8. This is because HP takes the final binary digit of the Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special IVs and places it, in that order, for its own IV. The last 3 binary digits are always 0 because those IVs have to be 10 (1010 in binary) for Shiny Pokémon. The first digit depends on whether or not the Attack IV is even (then it is 0) or odd (then it is 1). This means that the HP IV can either be 0000 (0) or 1000 (8).

Due to the probability of the IVs lining up in any of these manners to produce a Shiny Pokémon, the chance of obtaining one in Generation II is 1/8192 in a wild encounter; breeding has different odds due to parents passing on IVs to their offspring. However, if one breeds a Shiny Pokémon properly, the offspring may have as high as a 1/64 chance of being Shiny, depending on the species of Pokémon.

Shininess is inherent to an individual Pokémon; that is, a Pokémon that starts out Shiny will always be Shiny, and one that is not will never be (provided its data is not altered through cheating). Upon evolution, a Pokémon will retain its Shiny status. A Shiny Charmander, if leveled up, will eventually become a Shiny Charmeleon and then a Shiny Charizard, just as a regular Charmander will become a regular Charmeleon and then a regular Charizard. This is due to the status being determined by values inherent to the Pokémon; however, there is a difference in the determination between Generation II and Generations III to V.

To highlight alternate coloration, a red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage is part of the plot of the Generation II games and their remakes. After its defeat or capture, a Red Scale will be obtained, which can be given to Mr. Pokémon in exchange for an Exp. Share. The red Gyarados can be found at level 30.

The Pokémon that hatches from the Odd Egg in Crystal has a 14% chance of the result being Shiny in localized games, and a 50% chance in Japanese games.

The secret ID and Trainer ID byte words are first xored together, and then the first byte word of the personality value is xored with the second byte word of the personality value. If the xor of these two results is less than eight, then the Pokémon is Shiny. This results in a probability of 8 in 65536; simplified as 1/8192 (2-13, or 0.01220703125%), just as in Generation II. Symbolically:

In Generation IV, some Pokémon, such as Mystery Gifts and Ranger Manaphy, cannot be Shiny due to the game's code. However, the Ranger Manaphy's Shininess won't be altered by the game if traded to a second cartridge as an Egg (changing the ID and SID). There are other methods which make obtaining alternately colored Pokémon a little bit easier: the Masuda method and the Poké Radar slightly raise the probability of hatching Pokémon from Eggs and catching Pokémon from the wild, respectively.

In the Veilstone Game Corner, in the second mode on the slot machines, a Clefairy appears on the lower screen. There are three kinds of Clefairy: a Ditto that has transformed into a Clefairy, a normal Clefairy, and a Shiny Clefairy. Shiny Clefairy are the rarest and last for the most rounds, but are not as rare as encountering a wild Shiny Pokémon.

In Generation V, Pokémon in the Pokédex will appear Shiny if the first specimen of that Pokémon encountered is Shiny.

A special event has been released that will allow the player to encounter a wild Zoroark if one of the Shiny legendary beasts released with the thirteenth movie is transferred forward to Generation V.

In Generation V, the game is programmed so that wildReshiram, Zekrom and Victini as well as any Pokémon obtained from the Dream World will never be encountered Shiny. However, like all Pokémon, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Victini have Shiny palettes programmed in the games' data.

Unobtainable Shiny Pokémon

In most generations, there are a few Pokémon that cannot be legitimately obtained Shiny. This can be caused either by the way Shininess was implemented in the game (Generation II only), by being impossible to obtain except through a direct event distribution, or by being programmed so that they cannot be Shiny in the wild (Generation V only).

Generation III and on

Generation IV and on

Generation V

Notes

↑While Mew distributed to Generation II games cannot be Shiny, Mew distributed to Generation I games were likely not restricted in this way due to Shininess not existing yet. While it might be theoretically possible that a Mew could become Shiny when transferred to a Generation II game, it has not been proven and no cases are known.

↑Due to Unown's letter and Shininess both being determined by IVs in Generation II, only Shiny Unown I and V are possible in these games.

↑Due to gender and Shininess both being determined by IVs in Generation II, it is not possible to get a Shiny female of this gender ratio.

↑As with almost all event distributions, an event distribution Celebi cannot be Shiny. The only other way to obtain a Celebi in any of Generations III-IV is through the Japanese Pokémon Colosseum Bonus Disc, which also blocks Shininess. The reason that the Bonus Disc Jirachi can be Shiny while the Celebi cannot is because Jirachi's data is generated on the GBA that it is sent to, while Celebi's data is generated on the GameCube.[citation needed]

In the side series games

Pokémon Stadium

In Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, Pokémon with a nickname can be colored slightly differently, whether or not they are actually Shiny. This seems to have been removed from later games. In the Ekans Hoop Hurl game in the Kid's Club, there are golden Diglett that are worth extra points.

In Stadium 2, there is an option while viewing the list to exclude any non-Shiny Pokémon from the listing (i.e. Group Color Pokémon/Cancel Color Pokémon). Here they are called Color Pokémon. This will show Shininess, even if the player is currently viewing a Generation I cartridge in the Lab.

Pokémon Colosseum

In Pokémon Colosseum, like in the main series games, Pokémon have a 1/8192 chance of being Shiny. Likewise, there is a 1/8192 chance of a Shadow Pokémon being Shiny; however, when a Shiny Shadow Pokémon is captured, it is highly improbable that the Pokémon will retain Shininess. Conversely, when an ordinary Shadow Pokémon is captured, there is still the 1/8192 chance of that Pokémon becoming Shiny when it is sent to the player's party or the Pokémon Storage System. Shininess is retained through purification. In Pokémon Colosseum, the color of a Shiny Pokémon can differ drastically from the handheld games.

Pokémon XD

In Pokémon XD, the game ensures that all Shadow Pokémon are not Shiny by recalculating the Pokémon personality value if it would result in a Shiny Pokémon. However, the starterEevee, Mt. BattleJohto starter Pokémon, and Poké Spot Pokémon can be Shiny. As in Pokémon Colosseum, the color of a Shiny Pokémon can differ drastically from the handheld games. Shiny Pokémon have a different profile icon next to their health bar than their normally-colored counterparts.

My Pokémon Ranch

Pokémon Battle Revolution

In Pokémon Battle Revolution, Shiny Pokémon have face-sprites which show their Shininess. Random Pokémon in Colosseums can be Shiny, but have the same chance of being Shiny as wild Pokémon. This is due to the RNG, which generates a random PID.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon WiiWare

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games for WiiWare, Shiny Pokémon can be found in dungeons. Unlike the main series, only 36 different species of Shiny Pokémon are obtainable. The chances of finding one in a dungeon is the same chances as finding one in the wild in the main series. Unlike Shiny Pokémon in the past, however, the Shiny Pokémon found in these games have an added bonus: their Hunger stat is 200 as opposed to the 100 of normal Pokémon. A Red Gyarados can also be obtained at Level 30 via Wonder Mail password, as a reference to the one found in the Johto-based games.

Super Smash Bros.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Mewtwo, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, and Lucario each have several different colorations exclusive to the series. One of Pikachu's alternate colorations is its Shiny form wearing Red's hat, and one of Jigglypuff's is its Shiny form wearing a straw hat; however, all other playable Pokémon in the series, except Mewtwo, do not have their actual Shiny form as an alternate coloration.

Pokémon Rumble

In Pokémon Rumble, Shiny Pokémon may rarely appear. They will always tip over when defeated. The chances of their appearance are unconfirmed, although they appear to occur more often than in the main series. Shiny Pokémon are always given a special trait, a blue name in menus, and a star below their picture on the Collection screen. Some Shiny Pokémon can be obtained by the use of passwords.

In the TCG

Shiny Pokémon have appeared in the TCG as well, first as Shining Pokémon in Neo Revelation and Neo Destiny, and later as Pokémon in EX Team Rocket Returns - EX Power Keepers. Players can only have one Pokémon per deck. The Stormfront, Platinum, Supreme Victors and Arceus sets include three cards each with alternate coloration artwork and a reverse holo effect, but are not classified as an entirely separate rarity. Unlike Shining Pokémon and Pokémon , these newest alternate coloration cards are not limited by special gameplay and deckbuilding rules, and since the names of the cards are not changed to indicate the alternate coloration, they can be evolved into non-Shiny Stage 1 Pokémon, or, in the case of Shiny evolved Pokémon, from normal Basic Pokémon.

In the anime

Although the games had not premiered alternate colored Pokémon until Generation II, several Pokémon seen beforehand were colored differently. One such example is the pink Butterfree, the mate of Ash's Butterfree, which appeared as early as the twenty-first episode. This is, however, not the standard alternate coloration for a Butterfree, causing many to not count it. Likewise, the first appearance of a Generation III Pokémon in The Kecleon Caper featured a non-standard alternate colored Pokémon, this time a purple Kecleon. This may be due to Kecleon's Color Change Ability, however, similarly to the case in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

The first Pokémon with an alternate coloration that was seen was also the first Generation II Pokémon to appear, a Ho-Oh in the first episode. However, it is possible that it may not have been intended to be an alternate coloration, as Ho-Oh may not have been fully designed by the episode's release, and may have simply been colored after the version it represents, Pokémon Gold, and since alternate coloration was also not yet an explored concept. For these reasons, most do not consider this to be a Shiny Pokémon either.

In the Orange Archipelago, certain Pokémon have a different coloration because the climate is different than that of the mainland. For example, a Butterfree, instead of the normal white with black markings, would have gold wings with red spots on them.

A blue Breloom and a light-blue Marill also appeared in Weekend Warrior, which are not the official alternate colors for those Pokémon, and are possibly coloring errors.

The first true Shiny Pokémon that appeared, however, was a Noctowl in Fowl Play!. Ash eventually captured it, and, as in the games, sparkles surround it as it comes from its Poké Ball. Several other Shiny Pokémon have appeared later as well, often used to make them stand out more, or be the focus of an episode.

Trivia

Due to the fact that Shininess in Generation III onwards is determined by the OT's ID and Secret ID, and to the fact that Eggs take the ID/SID of their hatcher when hatched, Eggs can be Shiny on the game that breeds them, but not on a game they are traded to (or vice-versa) if still in their Eggs. The OT of the Egg is not changed until after it hatches, which can lead to scenarios where an Egg will hatch and appear Shiny, but will not be Shiny when actually checked (or vice-versa), as the ID/SID changes immediately after the hatching scene.

This is also why many event Eggs can hatch Shiny when they would normally be prohibited from doing so on the original receiver's game.

In Generation II, due to Hidden Power and Shininess both being determined by IVs, a Shiny Pokémon's Hidden Power type can only be Grass or Dragon, with a power of either 50 or 70.